1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to lighting systems for use with roller skates and/or skateboards. In particular, it relates to indirect lighting systems which illuminate the floor under a roller skate or skateboard.
2. Background Art
Currently, a wide variety of wheeled amusement devices, such as skates and skateboards are used by young and old alike. In particular, roller skates have found wide use both indoor and outdoors in roller skating rings and for general use on streets and sidewalks.
Use of roller skates has led to some difficulty when used in poorly lit places such as darkened roller rinks or when used outdoors in the night. In areas such as indoor roller rinks the use of low level lighting generally does not lead to safety problems, but it can detract from the aesthetics of the activity. On the other hand, in outdoor use the absence of adequate lighting quite often does result in the exposure of the skater to danger from automobiles. Attempts have been made to provide some lighting capability to footwear and other devices used by pedestrians such as athletic shoes, roller skates, or skateboards.
In the case of athletic shoes, one of the methods used to enhance the visibility of the wearer has been to place lights in the heel and around the periphery of the athletic shoes. The lights used by this type of device are normally triggered by a switch in the heel of the shoe that automatically activates a light each time the user takes a step. The lights are ordinarily LEDs and are powered by a battery contained with the shoe. This type of lighting system has both ornamental value, and in addition, provides some safety value since the lights can improve the visibility of a pedestrian at night so long as the pedestrian is moving. Of course, if the pedestrian is standing still, the lights are normally off. A disadvantage of the device is that the light assembly is visible even when not in use.
Other known lighting methods use devices similar in structure to a flashlight which attaches to a shoe. These devices are typically used to illuminate the path in front of pedestrians while walking in the dark. An additional benefit is that the lights can make the user more noticeable by a driver from a distance.
Another type of device which has used lighting systems is the skateboard. It is known, for example, to put head light and tail light arrangements on skateboards both for forward illumination purposes and rear lighting. These devices can be configured as small flash light assemblies which mount on the underside of the skateboard. Likewise, rail bars are known which arrange LEDs around the periphery of the skateboard. Typically, these types of systems have switch and battery assemblies mounted on the underside of the skateboard.
Another device commonly used is roller skates. Attempts to provide lighting systems for this type of device have usually involved the attachment of a flash light device to provide a head light, or tail light function to roller skates. This type of lighting system typically attaches to the tow brake on the front of a roller skate or the underside of the skate at the rear. There have been known tow brakes that have led lighting arrangements built in to the tow brake on the front of the skate.
Another approach used in conjunction with roller skates has been to provide lighting in or on the wheels themselves. One such method includes making the light an integral part of the wheel. A second approach is to add on a device to the side of the wheel. This allows lights to be provided to pre-existing skates. However, in both of these configurations as well as the configuration that uses the tow brake, the lighting assemblies detract from the appearance of the roller skates and may also interfere with the use of the roller skates due to the size of the lighting assemblies. These configurations are suitable for the older type of roller skates whose wheels are configured in a square pattern with wheels in each of four corners. These wheels tend to be large and wide.
However, with the advent of the new roller skate design commonly known as in-line skates, the addition of lighting assemblies has increasingly detracted from the appearance of the skates and increasingly interferes with the use of the skates. This because in-line skates are configured similarly to ice skates rather than the conventional roller skates. The wheels are to small to hold batteries and of course the orientation of the lights into the wheels would still only provide direct lighting. The disadvantage of this wheel structure is that it would not have the ability to provide indirect lighting which for aesthetic reasons may be much more desirable. Likewise, the increased performance available from in-line skates may be hampered since the skater may not be able to tilt as far to the side if lights are mounted underneath.
In addition to the problems associated with the ability to incorporate lighting into in-line skates, there is also an additional problem associated with the ability to conveniently alter colors. The ability to changes colors is desirable since the choice of color may vary depending on the nature of the use. For example, if a skater is outdoors near automobile traffic the skater may wish to have a specific color such as red. In dark indoor environments such as a skating ring with dimmer lights another color may be more desirable.
Battery usage is another problem associated with many lighting systems used for roller skates. A typical lighting arrangements such as incandescent bulbs tend to consume considerable power, as do LEDs. Further LEDs often do not have the luminance necessary to effectively provide lighting capabilities indirectly. Therefore, arrangements which use LED lamps typically are implemented in direct lighting systems where the viewer looks directly at the lamps. Due to the rapid draining effect these devices have on their batteries, either large, heavy and inconvenient batteries must be used which may last for a more extended period, or lighter weaker batteries which drain faster must be used.
The prior art has failed to provide a single system which is capable of being inconspicuous when not in use, which provides for convenient change of color by the user, which provides indirect lighting, which has the ability to relocate the lighting on the skate or on a skateboard, and which has the inability to provide very low power systems which can operate for extended periods on a light weight battery.